Bat swoops out of hiding to bite human baby

OMG! Bats

• Do not touch a bat with your bare hands.
• If you have had contact with a bat or wake up to find a bat in your room, seek medical advice immediately.
• If you come in contact with a bat, save it in a non-breakable container if it is alive, or sealed and double-bagged in clear plastic bags without touching it if it’s dead. Call your public health district to determine whether testing the bat for rabies is indicated. If it is determined that you or your pet may be at risk of exposure to rabies, testing of the bat is a free service.
• Always vaccinate your dogs, cats, ferrets, and horses — even indoor pets could be exposed to rabies if a bat gets into a home.
• Bat-proof your home or cabin by plugging all holes in the siding and maintaining tight-fitting screens on windows.
• Parents should teach their children to avoid bats and to let an adult know if they find one.
Source: Idaho Department of Health & Welfare

PASCO, Wash. — A baby is being treated for rabies after it was bitten by a bat that flew out of a patio umbrella on the deck of her grandparents’ Pasco home.

Dan and Sandra Anderson were babysitting 11-month-old Alanna on Saturday evening when Dan Anderson opened the umbrella and Sandra Anderson noticed something flutter out toward Alanna.

“It was weird. I thought maybe it was moths,” Sandra Anderson told the Tri-City Herald newspaper.

Then she saw the bat clinging to Alanna’s back near her left shoulder. She brushed the bat away and then noticed two pair of tiny bite marks, even though the bat had been on the baby only a few seconds.

Alanna didn’t cry — until she noticed how upset her grandmother was. The baby was given shots at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland. Her grandparents are getting vaccine shots for rabies, too, as a precaution.

The family thought it had seen the last of the bat, but they were on the patio again Sunday for Mother’s Day when they noticed something black inside the closed umbrella.

This time, Alanna’s father, Derek Anderson, killed it with a piece of metal. He turned it over to the Benton Franklin Health Department and it tested positive for rabies.

The virus can be fatal without medical attention.

“I’m thankful we saw the bat on her and could take her for treatment,” said Sandra Anderson.